Clemson instructor offers to do graphic design for Antifa

A Clemson University teaching assistant recently offered to help a local Antifa organization “produce zines, posters, etc. to help the cause.”

Upstate Antifa, an “anti-fascist action” group based in upstate South Carolina, drew headlines in February when posters openly advocating for violence and vandalism were found plastered across Clemson’s campus bearing the group’s name.

Now, one Clemson University Graduate Teacher of Record (GToR), Brian Gaines, is offering to create advertisements and texts at the specific direction of Upstate Antifa.

In a recent Facebook post, Upstate Antifa outlined several “ways to help if you are unwilling/unable to physically fight,” directing supporters to “Spread this around fucking everywhere.”

“We aren’t glitter bombing Nazis. We aren’t throwing flour on them. We definitely aren’t going to peacefully shut them down,” Upstate Antifa proclaimed. “They want to kill us, they said so in Charlottesville. They made it very clear where they stand and how they plan on taking action. Their violence needs to be met with great force.”

Directing those who, “are not down to physically fight these fuckers,” to “stay off the front lines,” warning that “you’ll get hurt and your pacifism will be a liability, resulting in others being hurt. Run support. We need more support.”

Examples of the types of support being sought include “go to a street medic training,” “run jail support,” “learn how to securely (and correctly) doxx these people,” “write a zine about anti-fascism,” “HOST a street medic training,” “Become a legal observer,” and “organize food drives/pot lucks.”

If nothing else, the group implores supporters to “DONATE!” saying, “even $5 is almost 2 gallons of gas and is crucial to keeping us shutting down the fascists wherever they choose to go.”

“I am a graphic designer,” GToR Gaines wrote in response to the appeal, adding that he is “willing to produce zines, posters, etc to help the cause,” to which Upstate Antifa replied, “Thanks, Brian!”

Gaines is also a member of Indivisible Clemson, a group dedicated to actively resisting “the Trump agenda” that has previously been involved in a hunger strike against President Trump’s executive order on immigration and a protest of Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham’s town hall meeting at Clemson.

Assistant Professor Bart Knijnenburg, another notable member of Indivisible Clemson, caused national outrage when he wrote that “All Republicans are racist scum” in a Facebook post.

Alexander Cullen, Clemson student and Editor-in-Chief of the Tiger Town Observer, a student newspaper, alerted Campus Reform to the posts, stating, “As a student at Clemson, I find it extremely concerning to see professors actively supporting a group that has championed violence as a solution against their political opponents.”

Campus Reform reached out to GToR Brian Gaines, but did not receive a response in time for publication.